The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-05-26

well, our newspaper IrlenQ secured
passports and badges for our party, and
we had choice seats on the club house
yeranda, where nobody is allowed but
folks of consequence-like Prince
Leopold and three or four counts and
Jim Keene and the representatives Of the
great New York dailies. Jim Keene's
son, Foxhall, was one of the riders--that
is he rode his own horses-only one at
time and be won two races. 1t actually
made me have kinder feelings toward
Jim Keene because his son did ride and
rode well, and took the peril of it, and
because Jim Keene looked on with anx.
ious paternal pride. Langtry was not
there but Freddy, her Freddy Gebhard
was, and he had two horses in the ring
but Freddy dident ride. He is saving
himself very carefully, they say, for
Langtry, and they are to be- married
soon.
These steeple races are more intensely
exciting than the "ast" races, as those
without hurdles are called. Some of the
hurdles are cedar hedges, some are stone
walls with turf on top of them, some are
plank fences, some are cornstalks, q kind
of grasshopper fence. Then there are
doubles" where two fences are 30 close
together as to require two leaps in quick
succession and last and most perilous of
all is stone wall with ten-foot ditch
on the farther side, aud that ditch fall Of
water. None but the best trained horses
can clear that, and none but the best
trained rider can stick to his steed.
Now, all of our country boys know that
it is not an easy thing to stick to horse
as he jumps ditch or FIVE rail fence.
Sometimes the horse goes on and the boy
stops, or the horse stops and the boy goes
on. But these hedges and walls are from
Eve to seven feet high, and these aplen.
did riders did not show any daylight in
the saddle, but seemed glued to H.. in
fact, they seemed To be part of the horse,
and moved with him in perfect grace.
The track was just mile round mile
on grassy, close stleared turf green, and
smooth, and the hurdles were here and
there on the course, and inside of it at
irregular intervals, and the horses had to
leave the "fat" as the running course is
called, and take the hedge or wall or
ditch wherever it was placed. When
the race was closely contested, you could
see four or Eve horses on the wild leap
at once, with barely a neck between.
We witnessed FIVE races, and in one of
three miles there were thirteen splendid
horses engaged. The riders were all
men, not boys, and averaged from lS5 to
ITO pounds, and they were clad in snowy
garments Of green and blue, and canary
aud gold, and silver and velvet, and satin
and stripes, and spots and sashes of all
colors, so that the eye could follow them
around the track and not be deceived as
to which horse vas ahead.
Well, of course, there was betting, but
there was no trickery. The owners of
the horses were supposed to be above
tricks and stratagems. They already
had as much money as any reasonable
man could desire. Money had failed to
satisfy, and now they were trying sport.
No ordinary nar could come into this
ring. To get in, man had to be above
the necessity of plotting and scheeming
to make money. The prize of $4,000 to
the best horse was nothing but listle
spice among these men. There was bet
ting outside, lots of it, but not on large
scale. Old men, old women, young men
and young women, all bet, say from five
to twenty dollars, on every race. Some
bet on their Judgment, their knowledge
of the horses or on horse flesh in general.
But most of the Eve thousand people bet
at random, just for the excitement.
They would pick out name they liked
and bet on it. Lots of men and ladies
bet on "Orphan Boy" just out Of sympa-
shy, and the Orphan got left. I was
much amused at an old gentleman with
gray side whiskers. He bet every time
$50 every time and lost. At the last
race he said, "Wellu I'll try it once more.
My wife picks out the hind nag every
time and have to bet on him to please
her. I've lost eighty dollars already and
here goes another twenty" He lost that,
too, and as he paid over the money he
said: "Well, my old woman will have to
stay at home this summer, do reckon,
for all her spending money is gone" But
the old woman looked at him with tone
of voice that meant: 1 reckon / know
what I'm about, and there is plenty more
money left in the till for me. Cedarhurst
is lovely place-just as pretty as a
painting. The deep blue ocean was just
before us and the magnificent Ocean
hotel near by facing the beach. All
along the 25 miles that We rode by rail
the earth was carpeted with green and
the fruit trees adorned with blooms.
There were signs everywhere of industry
and thrift, but none of poverty and decay.
There are three millions of people near
by to feed, and these working farmers can
sell anything and everything they raise.
heard little girl boasting that she had
already sold twelve dollars worth of
roses and six dollars of tulips that she
grew herself.
Well, rode across the Brooklyn
bridge, one Of the grandest triumphs Of
the human mind that is in the world or
ever has been. I saw Miss Liberty, with
her torch in hand, and I rode for miles
and miles o. the elevated railways that